Worry
by Emotional Dalek
Summary: Established Tom/Anne. Tom and Anne are expecting a baby, and Matt is worried that his dad will care more about the new baby than about him, Ben and Hal. A short, cute and cheesy one-shot. First in Julia series.


**A very AU piece set in the future. Tom and Anne are expecting a baby, and Matt is worried about the implications of this. ONESHOT.**

**Pairings: Tom/Anne, Hal/Maggie.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. Not a single bit.**

Matthew Mason was more than a little bit annoyed. His dad had fallen for the charms of Dr. Glass, and they just _had _to go and have a baby, didn't they? It wasn't that Matt didn't like Anne; in fact, she was one of his favourite people in the 2nd Mass, but ever since they'd announced that they were going to have a baby, everyone seemed too caught up in their own business to remember him.

As Anne's due date approached, Matt got more and more dejected, and started looking for hiding places around Charleston. Tom, busy looking after Anne, worrying about Ben, and dealing with his duties as second-in-command, hadn't had much time to spend with his kids. It was all well and good for Hal and Ben, who were fighters and usually went with Tom, but Matt spent most of his time wandering around the camp, sometimes going with off-duty fighters or civilians (provided he had permission from Tom, Anne or Weaver) for food rations and medical supplies.

Funnily enough, it wasn't one of those closest to Matt that noticed how upset he was, or even a human; it was the leader of the skitter rebellion who noticed, and told Ben. Ben was quick to take matters into his own hands, and try to talk to him.

"Hey, Matt." Matt glanced up to see his older brother going to sit down next to him, before going back to his previous task of kicking up dust.

"Hey."

"Someone told me that you were feeling a bit upset. D'you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Is it about the new baby?" Matt nodded. "You know that Dad wont love us any less when the baby is born, right?"

"That's not what other kids say. Tommy said that before the invasion his step-mom had a baby, and his dad cared more about the baby than about him."

"I doubt that's true. Baby's take up a lot of time, so maybe it just seemed that way. When you were born, I was convinced that Mom and Dad loved you a gazillion times more than me, but that doesn't mean it was true."

"So what happened?"

"Mom sat me and Hal down, and explained that both her and Dad loved us just the same as you."

"But this is different. Anne isn't Mom."

Ben didn't really know what to say to that. Matt had a point, that this baby was a half brother or sister. He understood Matt's worry that their Dad might care about a new family more, but he didn't believe it. "It'll be okay, Matt." Matt just looked at his brother before wandering off.

Ben sighed. Clearly he was going to need some help on this, but he didn't want to worry his Dad unnecessarily. So he went to find Hal.

XoxoX

"Matt?" Hal called as he poked his head around the side of the door into the room Matt shared with Ben.

"Yeah?"

"Ben said you were upset about the new baby."

"I guess."

"Well, I think you should talk about it."

"To who? _You_?" Hal grimaced at his youngest brother's sarcastic tone of voice.

"Well, I'm here, and I'm willing to listen."

Matt groaned. "What if Dad loves the new baby more than us?"

"He wont."

"But what if he does? And what if Anne treats us differently?"

"First off, this is Dad we're talking about. We already know he'd do anything to make sure we were safe. He walked onto an alien spaceship on the off chance that it might save Ben! And secondly, I don't think Anne is exactly 'evil stepmother' material." Matt grinned a little. "Are we okay?"

"Yeah." Matt lied. He was still worried.

XoxoX

Julia Mason was born at three in the afternoon on the fifteenth of May, 2013, after a very long labour. She was a good size, and both mother and baby were perfectly healthy.

Almost everyone in the 2nd Mass. was happy about the new arrival. In times like these, a baby was seen as a symbol of hope for the survival of the human race. Ben and Hal were both happy to have a baby sister, but Matt's faked cheerful attitude faltered when Tom came out to the hall to tell them that it was a girl.

Tom steered Ben, Hal, Maggie (she was practically family now), and Matt into the room. There was much cooing over the tiny baby, and no one noticed when Matt slipped out of the room. It was a couple of minutes before anyone realised he was gone.

"Where's Matt?" asked Anne, looking up and realising the ten-year-old was gone.

"I'll go look for him," said Tom, carefully Julia back to Anne before getting up from the seat by the bed.

It didn't take long for Tom to find Matt sitting a short distance away from where most of the buildings were. It was an area close enough to the town to be safe from skitters, but far enough away that it offered some privacy. Tom sat down next to him, but Matt didn't acknowledge this at all.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Now that you have Julia and Anne, does that mean we don't matter anymore?"

A look of confusion crossed Tom's face. "What would make you think that?"

Matt shrugged. "Some of the other kids said stuff."

"Well they couldn't be more wrong. I love you, Hal and Ben just as much as Julia."

"But what about Mom?" This part was said in little more than a whisper.

"I will always love your Mom, but she's dead, and nothing can change that. I don't think she'd want us spending the rest of our lives doing nothing but missing her, do you?" Matt thought about it a moment, then shook his head. "I'm sorry that I didn't talk to you about this sooner. You know if you ever have any problems you can talk to me or Anne, right?"

"Yeah, I know. And I'm sorry for running off."

"It's fine." Tom pulled the boy into a hug and kissed his forehead. "Do you want to come and properly meet your sister now?" Matt nodded and the pair got up and walked back to the buildings.

The house the Masons had been put in was one of the larger ones. There were two people to a bedroom; Tom and Anne (and now Julia) in one room, Ben and Matt in another, and Hal and Maggie in the third (which Tom wasn't entirely sure was a good idea). Lourdes had the left over room.

Tom and Matt went into Tom and Anne's room, and Matt was instructed to sit in the chair his father had occupied before going to find him.

"Mind her head." said Tom as he gently placed the tiny bundle into Matt's waiting arms. Julia looked a lot like Tom, only with a slightly darker complexion. Anyone could tell that her eyes, tinted baby blue as they were, would soon be the same dark brown as Tom's were.

Julia grabbed one of Matt's fingers and held on with a surprisingly strong grip. Matt couldn't help but smile.

Matt was fully satisfied that his dad didn't have any favourites, and everyone in the family was confident that he and Julia would be think as thieves soon enough.

**Okay, so what does everyone think? Please tell me if you think it's too cheesy; I was worried about that when I was writing it. If the feedback is good I might consider writing more stories with Julia in them. Please review, and while flames are unwelcome, please tell me anything you didn't like about it so that I can try and improve on it. Constructive criticism makes for better writers!**

**Borderline Sociopath, AKA: Nessa, xoxox**


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